Young Jeezy began his career as a Li'l as well. He was Li'l J before switching to Young Jeezy, then just Jeezy, then, presumably during a midlife crisis, he went back to Young Jeezy.Archive
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Some names are just too long. For instance, Fat Joe Da Gangsta eventually shortened to Fat Joe.PNG
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So did his cohort Big Moon Dawg. He went by Big Punisher for awhile before shortening it to Big Pun. And you thought he really liked wordplay.PNG
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Not that it was overlong to begin with, but rapper Nasty eventually cut it down to Nas.PNG
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Murda Ma$e grew tired of murder at some point and eventually changed his name to Ma$e.Archive
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Here's a rapper who went longer. Andre 3000 from Outkast began his rap career as simply Dre. Confusion with Dr. Dre likely led to the name change. Or maybe it was just his penchant for additional handles. He also goes by Ice Cold and Possum Aloysius Jenkins.Kevin Winter
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Before he was known as 2pac, Tupac Shakur was known as MC New York. In his later years, he also changed his name to Makaveli.Archive
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The Notorious B.I.G. was originally known as Biggie Smalls.Archive
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Before he was known as Q-Tip, he was known as MC Love Child. He probably made the right choice.PNG
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